The Tattered Notebook: Six things not to miss during Frostfell

The timing is probably purely coincidental, but EverQuest II's transition to free-to-play is coming at the best time of the year in Norrath: Frostfell! EverQuest II has always done a lovely job tying together seasonal events with the larger lore of Norrath, but Frostfell is the biggest event of the year. Now, everyone can check it out for free, and it's a great way to get acclimated to the game and get some really nice (and valuable) items in the process.

In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll cover the must-sees for Frostfell. From snowball fights to snow cloud mounts to heavy-breathing Gigglegibbers dressed as Santa, this is a list you'll definitely want to check twice.

Santa Glugg

Considering all of the big changes to the game lately, I wondered whether there would even be any new quests or items in this year's Frostfell. The event started back in 2005, and each year, the team has added more and more to the event. Surprisingly, the devs continued that streak and added in some fun things to do as well as some new items. And even Santa Glugg is giving out new gifts to players!

One player favorite has always been the snow globes, and I was happily surprised to get a new one for my collection this year: the Thurgadin globe. There are actually three new buyable globes and two new globes given out by Santa Glugg. I've lost count of how many different globes are available, but it has to be over a dozen now.

Snow cloud mount

There are several new items available for purchase this year from the goblin in the Wonderland village. By completing daily quests and adventuring in the special Icy Keep instance, you can earn Frozen Tokens of E'ci, which are then used to buy house items, appearance weapons and gear, and even the new snow cloud mount seen in the screenshot below.

Candy tag

Last year's candy grab'n'tag is gone, but it's been replaced by a new and more fast-paced version. If you're familiar with the Aether races, you'll find it similar in that you're given a tinkered hovercraft and tasked with racing around the zone. Instead of aiming for gates, though, you must race over any glowing candy that's scattered around Antonica and the Commonlands. The prizes are awarded based on how many candies you can get, with the nicest prizes being offered for 75 or more candies. Also, after five races you can earn the title Candy Catcher.

New recipes and a new crafting instance

The sheer amount of stuff that you can make is enough to get even a non-crafter like yours truly out there harvesting materials in Wonderland Village. Once again, there are brand-new tradeskill books to purchase, with dozens of new recipes. If you want to dive into crafting, you'll need to make plenty of room for the 55 different harvested materials found throughout the zone. Your best plan is to hit the goblin banker right at the entrance, clear some room, and then buy up some shopping bags from the vendor next to him. Those bags have 48 slots and will only hold Frostfell harvestables, making it easy to keep them all in one spot rather than mixed with the rest of your inventory. And while you're at the vendor, make sure to peek at the items he has for sale for coin; if nothing else, you'll want to at least buy a Frostfell cap.

In addition to the normal crafting available, tradeskillers have a special new crafting instance with several daily quests to complete. By finishing them, you can earn a nice chunk of Frozen Tokens of E'ci and some good tradeskill experience, so if you're new to the game, it's a nice way of leveling up while making some unique items. You can get the daily crafting quest from the goblin by the rainbow in the lower part of the zone, and it leads you to a new instance of Permafrost, complete with the goblin questgivers and all the necessary work stations. Just be careful near the edges of the area -- it's slippery, and it's a long way down.

Shinies!

It wouldn't be EQII if it didn't have shinies, and you can find the Frostfell collection shinies in the Wonderland Village. There are frozen toes scattered about the zone, and if you collect one of each race, you can turn it in for a chunk of experience and a house item. Just try not to think about why so many Norrathians went barefoot skating.

Snowball fights

Even if you've got an inner Grinch and don't want to take part in any of the Frostfell activities, there's always a snowball fight! Buckets of snowballs are located all over the towns, and you can take as many as you wish (these snowballs don't melt either, so you can bank them and save them for the warmer months). The bad news is that they don't seem to cause the knock-down effect that they used to. The good news is that the crafted fruitcakes still do, and if you can imagine being hit by a flying fruitcake, you can see it's quite a powerful knockdown.

Those are just a few of the many highlights from my favorite EQII holiday event, and I've barely scratched the surface. There are several questlines that are back this year, and don't forget to keep an eye on the Guide Events. I'll be livestreaming EQII again next week, so check the Massively Twitch TV channel for a look at the Crafting Critters' Frostfell maze, and later in the week you can take a look at Jeremy Stratton's custom-built Massively-themed dungeon. For all the details on this year's Frostfell event, check out EQ2i and EQ2 Traders Corner. And for the love of Tunare, someone help poor Nathan Ironforge get his tongue unstuck from the frozen pole!

From the snow-capped mountains of New Halas to the mysterious waters of the Vasty Deep, Karen Bryan explores the lands of Norrath to share her tales of adventure. Armed with just a scimitar, a quill, and a dented iron stein, she reports on all the latest news from EverQuest II in her weekly column, The Tattered Notebook. You can send feedback or elven spirits to karen@massively.com.